Some multicarrier communication systems, including Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) systems, use symbol modulated subcarriers to communicate data through a communication channel. Data is transmitted on data subcarriers and most of the training values are transmitted on pilot subcarriers. The training values in the pilot subcarriers allow a receiver to obtain channel state information and synchronize with the transmissions. In some communication systems, the transmitter creates space for pilot subcarriers by puncturing bits at the symbol level before transmission. One problem with puncturing at the symbol level is that the code bits in the punctured symbols are not uniformly distributed at the bit level resulting in an increased packet error rate and reduced receiver performance.